Physiological parameter detecting apparatus and method of detecting physiological parameters

ABSTRACT

Physiological parameter detecting apparatuses and methods of detecting the physiological parameters are provided. A physiological parameter detecting apparatus includes: a light source configured to emit a light onto a region of an object; an optical path converter configured to receive the light returning from the object and convert an optical path of the received light; an optical detector configured to detect the light that has the converted optical path; and a controller configured to extract physiological information of the object from the detected light.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No.15/581,695, filed Apr. 28, 2017, which claims priority from RussianPatent Application No. 2016116865, filed on Apr. 28, 2016 in the RussianFederal Service for Intellectual Property, and Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 10-2016-0056610, filed on May 9, 2016 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate todetecting physiological parameters.

2. Description of the Related Art

As the interest in health increases, various kinds of apparatuses formeasuring and detecting physiological information have been developed.In particular, since various wearable devices configured to be directlyworn on an object are developed, equipment specialized in health carehave been developed. In order to perform correct physiologicalinformation analysis, various kinds of instrumental or algorithmictechniques have been studied.

In order to determine a physical situation of an object, physiologicalinformation to be measured by using a physiological informationmeasuring apparatus, that is, human physiological parameters may be, forexample, blood pressure, pulse rate, heartbeat, and blood glucose. Thesephysiological parameters do not have constant values but continuouslychange, and accordingly, may need to be continuously monitored. Forexample, blood pressure and heart rate may be the cause ofcardiovascular disorders, such as high blood pressure, low bloodpressure, and heart attack. Thus, correct measurement and the continuousmonitoring of the physiological parameters may play a very importantrole in the prevention and curing of disease that may be suffered by theobject. In order to measure and monitor the continuous changes of thephysiological parameters of the object, there is a need to develop amethod of easily accessing the object in a non-invasive atmosphere.

SUMMARY

One or more exemplary embodiments provide physiological parameterdetecting apparatuses configured to non-invasively detect and analyzephysiological parameters of an object.

Further, one or more exemplary embodiments provide methods of detectingthe physiological parameters by using the physiological parameterdetecting apparatuses.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, a physiologicalparameter detecting apparatus includes: an optical irradiation unitconfigured to irradiate a first light onto a region of an object; anoptical path conversion unit configured to convert an optical path of asecond light by receiving the second light emitted from the object; anoptical detector configured to detect light, the optical path of whichis converted by the optical path conversion unit; and a controllerconfigured to detect physiological information of the object.

The optical irradiation unit may further be configured to irradiate acoherent wave to the object.

The first light emitted from the optical irradiation unit may have awavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 700 nm.

The first light emitted from the optical irradiation unit may have awavelength in a range from about 700 nm to about 1500 nm.

The optical path conversion unit may further be configured to convert,extend, or delay the optical path of the second light.

The optical path conversion unit may include reflection surfacesconfigured to reflect the second light.

The optical path conversion unit may include at least two reflectionsurfaces that reflect the second light and the reflection surfaces maybe arranged to form an acute angle to each other.

The reflection surfaces may be arranged to face each other.

The optical detector may include a pixel array detector, and a pluralityof image sensors arranged in a one-dimensional (1D) structure or atwo-dimensional (2D) structure.

The optical detector may include a position sensitive detector (PSD)having at least two unit sensors spatially separated from each other.

The controller may include a data processor, a memory, a display, and abattery.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a method of detectingphysiological information of an object, the method includes: emitting,from an optical irradiation unit, a first light onto a region of theobject; detecting, by an optical detector, a speckle pattern of a secondlight after converting an optical path of the second light that isgenerated from the object by emitting and scattering the first light;and detecting the physiological information of the object from thespeckle pattern of the second light.

The method may further include emitting the first light having awavelength in a range from about 400 nm to about 700 nm and detecting,by the optical detector, a speckle pattern of a skin surface of theobject.

The method may further include emitting the first light having awavelength in a range from about 700 nm to about 1500 nm and detecting,by the optical detector, a speckle pattern of a skin surface of theobject.

The method may further include converting or extending, by the opticalpath conversion unit, an optical path of the second light by reflectingthe second light using reflection surfaces.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided aphysiological parameter detecting apparatus including: a light sourceconfigured to emit a light onto a region of an object; an optical pathconverter configured to receive the light returning from the object andconvert an optical path of the received light; an optical detectorconfigured to detect the light that has the converted optical path; anda controller configured to extract physiological information of theobject from the detected light.

The light source may be further configured to emit a coherent wave tothe object.

The light emitted from the light source may have a wavelength in a rangefrom about 400 nm to about 700 nm.

The light emitted from the light source may have a wavelength in a rangefrom about 700 nm to about 1500 nm.

The optical path converter may be further configured to convert, extend,or delay the optical path of the received light.

The optical path converter may include reflection surfaces configured toreflect the received light.

The optical path converter may include at least two reflection surfacesthat reflect the received light, and the reflection surfaces may bearranged to form an acute angle to each other.

The reflection surfaces may be arranged to face each other.

The optical detector may include a pixel array detector and a pluralityof image sensors arranged in a one-dimensional (1D) structure or atwo-dimensional (2D) structure.

The optical detector may include a position sensitive detector (PSD)including at least two unit sensors spatially separated from each other.

The controller may include a data processor, a memory, a display, and abattery.

According to an aspect of another exemplary embodiment, there isprovided a method of detecting physiological information of an object.The method may include: emitting a light onto a region of the object;receiving the light returning from the object; converting an opticalpath of the received light; detecting a speckle pattern of the lightthat has the converted optical path; and detecting the physiologicalinformation of the object from the speckle pattern of the light.

The emitted light may have a wavelength in a range from about 400 nm toabout 700 nm, and the detected speckle pattern may indicate a specklepattern of a skin surface of the object.

The emitted light may have a wavelength in a range from about 700 nm toabout 1500 nm, and the detected speckle pattern may indicate a specklepattern of a skin surface of the object.

The method may further include: reflecting the received light usingreflection surfaces to convert or extend the optical path of thereceived light.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects will be more apparent by describingcertain exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a physiological information measuringapparatus (hereinafter, referred to as an apparatus), according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a method ofdetecting light scattered from an object, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing for explaining a method of detecting lightscattered from an object by using an optical path conversion unit and adetector of the apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of an optical path conversionunit of the apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a controller of the apparatus accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of measuring body parameters of anobject by the apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 7 shows speckle patterns measured from the object by an apparatusand a graph of transformed speckle patterns, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments are described in greater detail below withreference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description, like drawing reference numerals are usedfor like elements, even in different drawings. The matters defined inthe description, such as detailed construction and elements, areprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the exemplaryembodiments. However, it is apparent that the exemplary embodiments canbe practiced without those specifically defined matters. Also,well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail sincethey would obscure the description with unnecessary detail.

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a physiological information measuringapparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus 100 may include an opticalirradiation unit 10 configured to emit light L1 to a region of an object200 and an optical path conversion unit 20 configured to convert anoptical path by receiving light L2 scattered and emitted from the object200 by the light L1 emitted to the object 200. The optical irradiationunit 10 may be embodied by a light source or a light emitter. Also, theapparatus 100 may include an optical detector 30 that convert an opticalsignal to an electrical signal by receiving light L2 converted by theoptical path conversion unit 20. The optical detector 30 may be alsoreferred to as an optical sensor. The combination of the opticalirradiation unit 10 and the optical path conversion unit 20, or thecombination of the optical irradiation unit 10, the optical pathconversion unit 20, and the optical detector 30 may be implemented by aspectrometer. Also, the apparatus 100 may further include a controller40 that controls the optical irradiation unit 10 and analysis the stateof the object 200 by using physiological parameters that are detectedfrom the light L2 that is scattered, deflected, or reflected from theobject 200. The controller 40 may be embodied by a processor.

Here, object 200 has a surface at which light L1 emitted from theoptical irradiation unit 10 of the apparatus 100 is scattered, may be ahuman body or an animal and may include a portion of a human body or ananimal.

The apparatus 100 according to the current exemplary embodiment maymeasure physiological information of the object 200 by being separatedfrom the object 200, but not limited thereto, that is, may measure thephysiological parameters in contact with the object 200. Also theapparatus 100 may be used by being mounted in a mobile device or as anindependent device as a prototype. The apparatus 100 may be used bybeing attached to a specific portion, for example, hands, arms, legs,feet, wrists, elbows, shoulders, back, neck, waist, or ears, and may beused as a wearable device type by being inserted into a cloth.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a method of detectingscattered light L12 and L22 emitted from an object by the apparatus 100after emitting light L11 and L21 onto the object 200 from the apparatus100 according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, light L11 and L21 emitted from the opticalirradiation unit 10 of the apparatus 100 may enter the optical pathconversion unit 20 by scattering at a surface or inside of the object200. Here, the light L11 and L21 irradiated emitted from the opticalirradiation unit 10 is referred to as a first optical irradiation, andthe light L12 and L22 scattered by the object 200 is referred to as asecond optical irradiation. The optical irradiation unit 10 may emit acoherent wave onto the object 200, for example, the optical irradiationunit 10 may be a laser. A beam shaper may be located on a region wherethe first optical irradiation L11 and L21 is emitted from the opticalirradiation unit 10.

The first optical irradiation L11 and L21 emitted from the opticalirradiation unit 10 may be light having various ranges of wavelengths,and the wavelength range of the first optical irradiation L11 and L21may be selected by the user. For example, in order to obtainphysiological information of a surface of a skin of the object 200, thewavelength of the first optical irradiation L11 emitted from the opticalirradiation unit 10 may be selected in a range from about 400 nm toabout 600 nm so that the first optical irradiation L11 emitted from theoptical irradiation unit 10 is reflected by the skin surface of theobject 200, and thus, the second optical irradiation L12 is obtained.When the first optical irradiation L11 having the wavelength range isemitted from the optical irradiation unit 10 onto the object 200, thefirst optical irradiation L11 is scattered at the skin surface of theobject 200 without invading into the skin of the object 200, and thus,the second optical irradiation L12 is emitted. If the first opticalirradiation L11 has a wavelength range of 400 nm to 600 nm or 400 nm to700 nm and when the first optical irradiation L11 is emitted onto theobject 200 from the optical irradiation unit 10, an invasion depth fromthe skin surface of the object 200 is limited to approximately in arange from about 200 um to about 300 um. Accordingly, the second opticalirradiation L12 having state information at a skin of the object 200 maybe emitted without affecting a blood vessel of the skin or blood flow inthe blood vessel.

Also, if a near infrared ray or wavelength in a range from about 700 nmto about 1,500 nm which is an infrared range is selected as thewavelength range of the first optical irradiation L21 emitted from theoptical irradiation unit 10, the first optical irradiation L21 isreflected and scattered at a region where a blood vessel is present inthe skin of the object 200, and thus, the second optical irradiation L22may be obtained. When the first optical irradiation L21 having awavelength of infrared ray or near infrared ray is emitted to the object200 from the optical irradiation unit 10, the first light L21 isscattered by red blood cells (RBCs) in the blood vessel, and thus, thesecond light is generated. Accordingly, if near infrared ray or awavelength range from about 700 nm to about 1,500 nm which is infraredray region is used as the first light L21, the second light L12generated at the skin surface may be minimized. Also, this range offirst light L21 is effective to obtain physiological information relatedto RBCs, blood flow velocity, and blood oxygenation in the blood vessel.

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a method of detecting light scatteredfrom the object 200 by using the optical path conversion unit 20 and adetector of the apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a second light L2 scattered from a region ofthe object 200 enters the optical path conversion unit 20. An opticalpath of the second light L2 entered the optical path conversion unit 20may be converted in the optical path conversion unit 20. The opticalpath conversion unit 20 may extend an optical path of the second lightL2 by changing the optical path of the second light L2. In the opticalpath conversion unit 20, the second light L2 may be changed to a statesuitable to detect physiological parameters of the object 200. Thesecond light L2 scattered from the object 200 may include specklepattern information of a region of the object 200 where the first lightis scattered. It is necessary to secure an optical path of the secondlight L2 to be an optimum condition for correctly measuring thephysiological parameters of the object 200, and accordingly, the opticalpath conversion and extension of the second light L2 may be performed bythe optical path conversion unit 20. The optical path conversion unit 20may be an optical delay line for optical path conversion and extensionof the second light L2. The second light L2 may enter the opticaldetector 30 as light L3 which is the second light L2, the optical pathof which is changed by the optical path conversion unit 20. The opticalpath conversion unit 20 of the apparatus 100 according to the currentexemplary embodiment may include reflection surfaces to convert andextend the optical path of the second light L2, which will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of the optical path conversionunit 20 of the apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4A, the optical path conversion unit 20 mayinclude a first reflection surface 23 a and a second reflection surface23 b that are configured to reflect the second light L2, and an anglebetween the first reflection surface 23 a and the second reflectionsurface 23 b form a very small acute angle. In this case, the secondlight L2 entering the optical path conversion unit 20 proceeds towardsthe optical detector 30 after reciprocally reflecting between the firstreflection surface 23 a and the second reflection surface 23 b aplurality of times.

Also, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4B, the optical path conversion unit 20may include a third reflection surface 24 a and a fourth reflectionsurface 24 b that are configured to reflect the second light L2. Thethird reflection surface 24 a and the fourth reflection surface 24 b arearranged substantially parallel to each other, and the third reflectionsurface 24 a and the fourth reflection surface 24 b may face each other.If the optical path conversion unit 20 has an arrangement structure asdescribed above, the second light L2 enters between the third reflectionsurface 24 a and the fourth reflection surface 24 b of the optical pathconversion unit 20 and proceeds towards the optical detector 30 afterreciprocally reflecting a plurality of times.

The first, second, third, and fourth reflection surfaces 23 a, 23 b, 24a, and 24 b as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B may be provided to substantiallyextend the optical path of the second light L2 entering the optical pathconversion unit 20, and thus, the second light L2 may be extend itsoptical path by reciprocally reflecting between the first, second,third, and fourth reflection surfaces 23 a, 23 b, 24 a, and 24 b as manytimes as the desire of the user. The user may optionally control thedetection of the second light L2 at the optical detector 30 after theoptical path of the second light L2 is extended in the optical pathconversion unit 20 by reflecting a certain degree of times between thefirst, second, third, and fourth reflection surfaces 23 a, 23 b, 24 a,and 24 b.

When the second light L2 is emitted from the optical path conversionunit 20 after extending the optical path thereof by reflecting N timesbetween the first, second, third, and fourth reflection surfaces 23 a,23 b, 24 a, and 24 b, the optical path of the second light L2 may beextended as much as L according to the Equation 1.

L=N×D  [Equation 1]

where L indicates an extended optical path of the second light L2 byreflecting N times between the first, second, third, and fourthreflection surfaces 23 a, 23 b, 24 a, and 24 b of the optical pathconversion unit 20, D indicates a distance between the first reflectionsurface 23 a and the second reflection surface 23 b or a distancebetween the third reflection surface 24 a and the fourth reflectionsurface 24 b. The distance D and the angle between the first, second,third, and fourth reflection surfaces 23 a, 23 b, 24 a, and 24 b may becontrolled so that the optical path of the second light L2 is extendedas much as desired.

The types of the optical path conversion unit 20 are not limited to thetypes depicted in FIGS. 4A and 4B, and thus, there is no specificlimitation of type as long as the disposition may extend the opticalpath of the second light L2 is extended. That is, reflection surfacesthat may be used in the optical path conversion unit 20 are not limitedto two reflection surfaces as depicted in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a furthernumber of reflection surfaces may be used.

In the apparatus 100 according to the current exemplary embodiment, theoptical detector 30 may detect a third light L3 which is the secondlight L2 emitting from the optical path conversion unit 20 after theoptical path thereof is converted and extended. The optical detector 30may include a pixel array detector, and may include a plurality of imagesensors arranged in a one-dimensional (1D) array structure or atwo-dimensional (2D) array structure. The optical detector 30 may be,for example, a photodiode, a charge coupled device (CCD), a CMOS camera,or a CMOS image sensor (CIS). As another example, the optical detector30 may be a position sensitive detector (PSD). The PSD may include atleast two unit sensors spatially separated from each other.

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of a controller of the apparatus accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the second light L2 that has thephysiological information of the object 200 and the optical path ofwhich is converted and extended by passing through the optical pathconversion unit 20 may be detected in the optical detector 30 as thethird light L3. The physiological information data of the object 200detected by the optical detector 30 may be analyzed by the controller40. The controller 40 may obtain physiological information of the object200 by interpreting and analyzing the physiological information datadetected by the optical detector 30 in a data processor 42. The dataprocessor 42 may obtain physiological information of the object 200 andalso may perform classifying the speckles, comparison of the measuredspeckle pattern and a speckle pattern obtained in advance, and imageprocessing by using the speckle pattern obtained from the second lightL2 that is scattered from the object 200.

The apparatus 100 according to the current exemplary embodiment maycontinuously measure the physiological information of the object 200,and an algorithm that analyses the physiological information of theobject 200 by using the speckle pattern obtained from the second lightL2 may be stored in a memory 44 besides the measured speckle pattern andthe physiological information of the object 200. The apparatus 100according to the current exemplary embodiment may continuously performthe collection and analysis work of physiological information of theobject 200 without an additional support from an external device. Thecontroller 40 may include a display 46 to visually display the measuredspeckle pattern or to visually display to the user the result ofcomparison between physiological information obtained from the specklepattern and physiological information obtained in advance. Also, thecontroller 40 may include a battery 48 to supply power to the opticalirradiation unit 10, the optical detector 30, and the data processor 42,the memory, and the display of the controller 40.

The apparatus 100 according to the current exemplary embodiment includesthe optical irradiation unit 10, the optical path conversion unit 20,the optical detector 30, and the controller 40 to analysis physiologicalinformation of the object 200. The apparatus 100 may be used togetherwith other mobile devices, and also, may be independently used as aprototype. Also, the apparatus 100 may be mounted on a region of theobject 200 as a band type, and also, may be continuously operated duringmoving of the object 200 by being mounted on a cloth. The apparatus 100according to the current exemplary embodiment may be used in a small boxstate in which all constituent elements are included. For example, theapparatus 100 may have a size not greater than 35×35×15 mm.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of measuring physiological parametersof the object 200 by the apparatus 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6, emitting coherent light L1 onto the object200 from the optical irradiation unit 10 of the apparatus 100 (operationS10). When light is emitted onto the object 200, a static electric fieldand/or a magnetic field may be applied to the object 200. At this point,the light applied to the object 200 is referred to as a first light L1.A wavelength of the first light L1 may be arbitrary selected. Theapparatus 100 may be spaced apart from or in a contact state with theobject 200, and there is no specific limitation in distance to theobject 200.

The first light L1 applied to the object 200 is emitted as a secondlight L2 by scattering on a region of the object 200, for example, askin surface of the object 200 or a blood vessel part of inner skin ofthe object 200. The optical path of the second light L2 may be convertedby the optical path conversion unit 20 by receiving the second light L2emitted from the object 200 (operation S20). The second light L2 may bechanged to a state to obtain physiological information by converting andextending the optical path thereof by the optical path conversion unit20.

Speckle pattern information of a region of the object 200 may beobtained by the optical detector 30 by detecting the second light L2(operation S30). The speckle pattern information in the data processor42 of the controller 40 may be processed by using the speckle patterninformation of the object 200 obtained at the optical detector 30(operation S40). Through the information obtained through the aboveprocesses, the physiological information, that is, physiologicalparameters of the object 200 may be detected (operation S50).

FIG. 7 shows speckle patterns measured from the object 200 by theapparatus 100 and a graph of transformed speckle patterns, according toan exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7, after emitting a coherent light, that is,the first light L1 onto a region of the object 200, for example, a skinor a blood vessel, the second light L2 scattered from the object 200 isdetected by the optical path conversion unit 20, and the optical path ofthe second light L2 is converted and extended in the optical pathconversion unit 20. In this manner, since the optical path of the secondlight L2 is extended or delayed, the size of the speckle patternincluded in the second light L2 may become a size suitable for measuringphysiological information of the object 200. For example, the secondlight L2 may have the optical path delayed from about 100 nm to about300 nm by the optical path conversion unit 20, and the optical detector30 may obtain a speckle pattern from the second light L2, the opticalpath of which is extended or delayed. As depicted in FIG. 7, the specklepattern may have a predetermined distributed pattern shape on a detectorplane. The extraction of a feature, classification, and analysis of thespeckle pattern may be performed in the controller 40 from the obtainedspeckle pattern. That is, as depicted in FIG. 7, after extracting thenumbers of peaks, peak shape, peak intensity, etc. from the specklepattern information converted to a graph, the data processor 42 maycompare the extracted results with information stored in the memory 44of the controller 40. Various suitable methods of algorithms may be usedto extract the specific features from the speckle pattern, for example,the Lukas-Kanade algorithm may be used.

The physiological information of the object 200, for example, systolicand diastolic blood pressures, blood flow velocity, or pulse may beanalyzed through the feature extraction process as described above. Whena blood pressure of the object 200 is detected after the specificfeatures are extracted, for example, machine learning algorithms may beused. In this process, comparison may be possible between the previoususer's records stored in the memory, physiological information measuredby different methods, and measuring results of different users.

According to the current exemplary embodiment, an independent andminiaturized physiological information measuring apparatus configured tocontinuously detect physiological information of an object during normalactivities of the object is provided. The physiological informationmeasuring apparatus may be attached to a specific part of the object,and also, may be used as a wearable device by including in a cloth ofthe object. The wavelength of a first light may be appropriatelycontrolled to correspond to the region of the object where thephysiological information is measured. An optical path of a second lightscattered from the object may be readily converted, extended, or delayedby using an optical path conversion unit.

While not restricted thereto, an exemplary embodiment can be embodied ascomputer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. Thecomputer-readable recording medium is any data storage device that canstore data that can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples ofthe computer-readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, andoptical data storage devices. The computer-readable recording medium canalso be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that thecomputer-readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.Also, an exemplary embodiment may be written as a computer programtransmitted over a computer-readable transmission medium, such as acarrier wave, and received and implemented in general-use orspecial-purpose digital computers that execute the programs. Moreover,it is understood that in exemplary embodiments, one or more units of theabove-described apparatuses and devices can include circuitry, aprocessor, a microprocessor, etc., and may execute a computer programstored in a computer-readable medium.

The foregoing exemplary embodiments are merely exemplary and are not tobe construed as limiting. The present teaching can be readily applied toother types of apparatuses. Also, the description of the exemplaryembodiments is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scopeof the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations willbe apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A physiological parameter detecting apparatuscomprising: a light source configured to emit a light onto a region ofan object; an optical path converter comprising two parallel reflectionsurfaces configured to receive the light returning from the object andconvert an optical path of the received light returning from the object;an optical detector configured to detect the light that has theconverted optical path; and a controller configured to extractphysiological information of the object from the detected light havingthe converted optical path, wherein the two parallel reflection surfacescomprise a first reflection surface and a second reflection surface thatare spaced apart from each other in a first direction, and extendbetween a first end side and a second end side of the optical pathconverter in a second direction that is perpendicular to the firstdirection, and wherein the second reflection surface is disposed betweenthe first reflection surface and the optical detector in the firstdirection, and extends farther than the first reflection surface towardthe first end side to receive the light from the object, and the firstreflection surface extends farther than the second reflection surfacetoward the second end side to output the light having the convertedoptical path from the first reflection surface toward the opticaldetector.
 2. The physiological parameter detecting apparatus of claim 1,wherein the light source is further configured to emit a coherent waveto the object.
 3. The physiological parameter detecting apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the light emitted from the light source has awavelength in a range from 400 nm to 700 nm.
 4. The physiologicalparameter detecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light emitted fromthe light source has a wavelength in a range from 700 nm to 1500 nm. 5.The physiological parameter detecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein theoptical path converter is further configured to extend or delay theoptical path of the received light.
 6. The physiological parameterdetecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two parallel reflectionsurfaces are arranged to face each other.
 7. The physiological parameterdetecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical detector comprises apixel array detector and a plurality of image sensors arranged in aone-dimensional (1D) structure or a two-dimensional (2D) structure. 8.The physiological parameter detecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein theoptical detector comprises a position sensitive detector (PSD)comprising at least two sensors spatially separated from each other. 9.The physiological parameter detecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecontroller comprises a data processor, a memory, a display, and abattery.